ScholarForum

Number 18 . Spring 2016

THE JOURNAL OF THE OPEN SOCIETY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS

Migration

Regional Focus:
CENTRAL ASIA
AND MONGOLIA

Essays and creative works by

Open Society Scholarship Programs’
grantees and alumni
Contents ScholarForum
3 Cover Topic: Migration The Journal of the Open Society
Scholarship Programs
10 Regional Focus: Central Asia and Mongolia
14 Academic Showcase Spring 2016 . Number 18
18 Alumni Updates Editorial Committee: Zoë BROGDEN,
23 Contribute to the Next ScholarForum Barbara DENTE, Joseph GLICKSBERG,
Ankita SURI, Zarina USMANOVA
Designer: Samuel BUGGELN
ScholarForum is published by the Open
Dear Readers, Society Scholarship Programs, an
operational program of the Open Society
Migration, the topic focus of this edition of ScholarForum, could not be a more promi- Foundations. ScholarForum is distributed
nent or pressing concern on the world stage. As 2016 begins, flows of migrants in and out of to current and former scholarship
their countries of origin are bringing stresses and challenges to societies across the world. The recipients, host institutions, educational
issues that the essays in this edition highlight are complex, and they demonstrate how they advising centers, and educational
cannot be reduced to simple statements and easy answers. professionals.

Our contributors have risen to this challenge, and present sophisticated thinking and
analysis about the effects of internal, regional, and global migration. We have two innovative OPEN SOCIETY
summaries of PhD-level research on Tajik migrants in Russia and the effect of climate change FOUNDATIONS
on conflict and the movement of people. One of our alumni shares his personal reasons for
pursuing advanced research into migration and his thoughts on where academics should pur- Chairman: George SOROS
sue more research. President: Christopher STONE

Regionally, we solicited articles focusing on Central Asia and Mongolia, areas that www.opensocietyfoundations.org
have seen hundreds of scholarships granted over our 20 years of grant making. A summary
of recent research into education in Mongolia and tense water politics between Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan are complemented with images of vistas from a seemingly forgotten part of OPEN SOCIETY
Kyrgyzstan. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS
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COVER TOPIC
Migration
The Effect of Social Remittances
from Afghan Diaspora in
Germany on Education and
Health Care in Afghanistan
Oybek KHAMDAMOV, Uzbekistan
Civil Society Leadership/DAAD Awards, 2014-2016
After years of war, Afghanistan’s schools and health care
institutions have suffered significant destruction (Goodson, 2001).
In line with the destruction of educational and health care
facilities, the already poor infrastructure has further deteriorated.
Since education and health care are two major domains vital for
Afghanistan’s development, this paper will rely on secondary
sources of information to illustrate how the social remittances of
Afghan migrants living in Germany are impacting the education
and health care spheres in Afghanistan. The number of Afghan
people living in Germany in 2014 was
approximately 125,000 (Koser 2014),
which makes them the biggest Afghan “The role of diaspora organizations in improving
diaspora in Europe.
As a migration scholar, Levitt has the literacy level seems to be considerable,
noted that social remittances are “ideas,
behaviours, identities, and social capital
particularly in the education of females”
that flow from receiving- to sending-
country communities” (Levitt 1998). They play an important role in
promoting “immigrant entrepreneurships, community and family
formation, and political integration” (Levitt 1998). From Levitt’s
theory, it can be argued that migrants remit ideas socially at the
individual and collective levels. While individual social remittances
refer to interactions between members of the diaspora and particu-
lar people or family members and friends, collective social remit-
tances “are exchanged by individuals in their role as organisational
members and are used in organisational settings such as home town
associations, church groups or political parties” (Levitt 2011).
From this basis of communicating social remittances through
organizations, Afghan diaspora NGOs in the educational and
health care spheres are taken as examples. Social remittances here
are mixed with material remittances (Levitt and Nieves 2011), as in
order to reach their social goals in education and health care, they
need a material source to operate.
The Impact of Social Remittances on Education and Health Care
Koser (2007) argues that both individual Afghan migrants in
Germany and migrant organizations, also called home town asso-
ciations, are sharing the responsibility of developing the education
system of Afghanistan due to the weakened power of the Afghan
government to rebuild the country’s infrastructure.
Afghanistan has one of the highest rates of illiteracy in the
world. According to statistics provided by the Central Intelligence
Agency (2015), only 38 percent of the population is literate. The
role of diaspora organizations in improving the literacy level
seems to be considerable, particularly in the education of females.
One of these organizations is the Afghan-German Womens’
Forum (Organisation Afghanisch-Deutsches-Frauenforum, ADFF)
in Bonn, which has as among its goals not only the education of
Afghan women and girls, but also the improvement of the general
situation of women in Afghanistan (Baraulina et al., 2007).
Another organization in this field is the German Afghan
Initiative (Deutsche Afghanische Initiative), which implemented
many educational projects, including building schools and granting
scholarships in Afghanistan. The initiative was established by two
Afghans—Omar Sayami and his sister, Susanne Sayami—in 2005
(Spiegel, 2010). Unfortunately, as the situation in Afghanistan dete-
riorated, the initiative stopped its activities in 2012 (Afghan Initiative,
2012). An analysis of the educational activities of such diaspora
organizations shows that Afghan attitudes toward women’s educa-
tion are changing and the number of literate children and women is
increasing (Spiegel, 2010).
The access of Afghan citizens to adequate standards of health
care is known to be very limited. The lack of medical personnel, espe-
cially for women, makes the situation worse (Acerra et al, 2009). For
these reasons, various diaspora organizations are engaged in improv-
ing the health care sector. One of these organizations is the Doctors’
ScholarForum 3
Association for Afghan Refugees (Ärzteverein für Afghanische
Flüchtlinge, AFAF), which was established in 1983 together with
the Afghan Medical Staff Association (AMSA) (Baraulina et al.,
2007). AMSA consists of six diaspora organizations working on
health care for Afghans in Afghanistan and abroad (AMSA, 2015).
Its objective is to improve health care in Afghanistan by educat-
ing local personnel and sending doctors and medical equipment
(AFAF, 2015).
The first reason why Afghan migrants living in Germany send
social remittances to their home country is their strong connection
to home. Most of them have family members at home and want
their relatives to receive money from abroad and use it to improve
their lives. Though they face various social barriers like language,
religion, and culture, Afghan migrants in Germany see the assimila-
tion into German society as their only option (Braakmann, 2005),
due to the instability in Afghanistan. Further, Braakmann (2005)
states that the second generation, which often battles with the
photo essay:
Building Their Dream Homes
from Afar: Migrant Laborers Fund
a Housing Boom in Bishkek
Nail NASRITDINOV, Kyrgyzstan
Social Work Fellowship Program, 2008-2010
Nearly one fifth of Kyrgyzstan's population is currently working
as migrant laborers in Russia and Kazakhstan. Upon their return,
many migrants prefer to settle in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan,
A woman harvests tomatoes outside her home
in the Ak Bosogo novostroika of Bishkek.
Photo: Nail NASRITDINOV
dilemma of identity, tends to see working for the improvement of
the political, economic, and social rights of Afghans in Afghanistan
as their form of civic engagement.
In summary, the theoretical views of Levitt and others about
social remittances guide us in analyzing factors explaining how
migrants can impact their country of origin. After 2001, many
NGOs, including some established by Afghan diaspora, were estab-
lished in Germany and were contributing their efforts to building
infrastructure. However, as long as the first precondition for an
NGO’s activities—peace and stability—is not present in Afghanistan,
they are not able to operate freely and effectively. As NATO-alliance
forces handed over the security to Afghan national forces, many
NGOs, including Afghan diaspora NGOs, are finding it difficult to
operate. Some of them had to cease their activities because of secu-
rity concerns. Despite these challenges, as long as the diaspora have
social and cultural bindings to Afghanistan, they will continue to feel
a responsibility to improve the living standards of people at home.
instead of going back to their towns or villages. They buy plots and
build houses in novostroikas, new settlements on the city’s periphery,
thus contributing to Bishkek’s urban expansion. The stories of these
migrants are ones of struggle and achievement. For years, these
migrants endure hardship and long hours in order to earn money
and send it home. A large share of these remittances is spent on the
construction of houses. Brick by brick, migrants build their future
and solidify their dreams of returning to Kyrgyzstan. The following
images I took depict how migrants and their families are using remit-
tances to build their dreams at home from afar.
 “For years, these
migrants endure
hardship and long
hours in order to
earn money and
send it home”

A man takes a break during the construction

of his home in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Photo: Nail NASRITDINOV

Homes under construction are a frequent site

in the Ak Bosogo novostroika, as property
in Bishkek is otherwise expensive.
Photo: Nail NASRITDINOV

Building homes on land they purchase is popular

for migrant workers returning to Kyrgyzstan.
This man works on improving his home.
Photo: Nail NASRITDINOV

ScholarForum 5
 In and Out: Mining-Induced Migration in Mongolia
Batchimeg SAMBALKHUNDEV, Mongolia
Undergraduate Exchange Program, 2006-2007
Due to its geographic and geopolitical
uniqueness, Mongolia is not a popular des-
tination for migrants. Internal migration to
and from mining sites is, however, a signifi-
cant phenomenon. People are either attract-
ed to mining areas due to promises of eco-
nomic prosperity, or they are forced to leave
these areas due to disasters caused by unsafe,
destructive mining operations. In this article,
I attempt to describe the problems of in and
out migration, with informal case studies of
the South Gobi and Gurvanbulag mines.
Located in the South Gobi desert, 1.7
million ounces of gold and 2.7 tons of cop-
per deposits make Oyutolgoi
the world’s largest gold copper
mine (omnogovi.gov.mn). Since “The main problem that forced
the discovery of the mines by a
Canadian company, Ivanhoe,
herdsmen and local people to
in 2001, there has been an migrate was a lack of fresh water”
increasing flow of migrants to
the Khanbogd soum, a region of South Gobi
province. As South Gobi became a classic
mining region as well as the largest site for
foreign investment in Mongolia’s history,
the economic prospects of the region started
looking up. After negotiations between the
Mongolian government and the mining com-
panies, the mine started copper extraction in
2013. The population increased from 20,000
in 2012 to 24,200 by the end of 2014.
People continue to move to South Gobi,
drawn by the lure of the province’s salaries—
the highest monthly salaries per capita in the
central region—with an average of 785,100
Mongolian tugruk or U.S. $394 in 2014
(South Gobi Statistics Office, 2014). This
is slightly above the average monthly wage
in the central region of 692,200 tugruk or
just over U.S. $340 (South Gobi Statistics
Office, 2014). In 2013, the mining company
also invested in social services, spending $33
million on education, the environment, and
health. This is an example of the posi-
tive effects of migration within Mongolia.
Mining, however, does not always have such
beneficial results. Gurvanbulag, a soum or
sub-administrative division of Bayankhongor
province in the southwest of the country, is a
tragic example of negative migration.
Since the late 1990s, Gurvanbulag had
gold mining companies running sub-standard
mining operations and was doing nothing to
address the environmental damage caused by
the mine. In 2012, Mongolian media reports,
such as on the UnenNews website, started to
bring attention to Gurvanbulag, outlining
serious environmental problems, including
desertification and ruined pastureland. The
main problem that forced herdsmen and
local people to migrate from the soum,
however, was a lack of fresh water caused by
mining activities.
The population of Gurvanbulag was
estimated at 2,116 in 2014, of which 1,841
were nomadic herdsmen (Bayankhongor
Statistics Office, 2014). I spoke to one of
them, Erdene, who was also featured in a
documentary film about the area. He had
over 800 head of livestock before the mining
started. As mining activities got underway,
the Shar River, the main potable water
source near his spring pasture camp, was
altered to produce several artificial lakes
which were used for mining activities, such as
cleansing the minerals (Mongolian National
Broadcasting, 2012). After 10 years of living
in the area, Erdene could no longer raise his
herds as the diversion of water for mining
turned the pastures into a desert. Eventually,
Erdene settled in the center of Gurvanbulag
and took a position with a government
administrative agency (Mongolian National
Broadcasting, 2012).
Erdene’s loss of his traditional liveli-
hood is not an isolated example. Due to
unregulated and aggressive mining opera-
tions, large stretches of the river were
either contaminated or dried up. Since
2006, 230 nomadic herding households
have had to carry or purchase their drinking
water from distances of up to 30 km away
(Mongolian National Broadcasting, 2012).
Families unable to travel these distances or
who cannot afford to buy water are forced
to drink contaminated water from the Shar
River.
Several NGOs tried to help the local
people of Gurvanbulag fight against the
mines, including the NGOs, Bosoo Khukh
Mongol and Delhiin Mongol Nogoon.
Eventually, these groups worked with local
people to discontinue the mining operations.
Both of these cases highlight the positive
and negative effects of econom-
ic development on migration.
Mongolia is a sparsely popu-
lated country and the numbers
mentioned here are not huge.
However, these cases do reveal
serious flaws in the system of
local governance that could later lead to big-
ger migration problems and environmental
degradation. The case of Gurvanbulag is
one of the few examples that has come to
light that reveals how the government’s poor
enforcement of laws and implementation of
regulations on mining operations can impact
the lives of native residents. In addition,
these cases also show how difficult it is for
native populations in isolated rural areas to
make their voices heard. These communities
are going against the power of multinational
mining corporations that are often able to
prevent municipal authorities from protect-
ing the rights and interests of local popula-
tions. Without reform and regulation, the
impact of multinational mining develop-
ment on migration patterns and native popu-
lations will undermine many Mongolians’
fragile confidence in governance 25 years
after the country’s democratic transition.
Erdene says he expects little from the
next election. His only wish is a sentiment
shared by thousands of nomads across the
country: to keep his native land for his peo-
ple and future generations.
 Water in Central Asia: A Source
for Conflict or Cooperation?
Aziz ELMURADOV, Uzbekistan
DAAD-OSF Awards, 2013-2014
Institute for Peace Research and Security
Policy, University of Hamburg
Some of the most controversial resource conflicts in the world
are linked to disagreements over the management of international
waters. Indeed, water is a vitally important resource and its distri-
bution is not only ecological or economic, but ultimately a politi-
cal question. Water, in this respect, can become a powerful cata-
lyst for conflict or cooperation (Zeitoun and Mirumachi, 2008).
“Countries in Central Asia have
faced serious challenges in dealing
with trans-boundary rivers”
Over the past two decades, countries in Central Asia have
faced serious challenges in dealing with trans-boundary rivers
in the region. In particular, there have been increasing tensions
between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan over the Amu Darya river. As
a downstream country, Uzbekistan uses much of the water for
irrigation purposes. Tajikistan is an upstream country which is in
the process of constructing one of the tallest hydropower dams in
the world, the Rogun Dam. Tajikistan sees the construction of the
dam as a means to create energy security and stimulate economic
growth. From Uzbekistan's perspective, the dam's construction
will endanger the supply of water needed for its agricultural
production. Simultaneously, both states consider water a critical
prerequisite for peace and prosperity.
Agriculture is an important economic sector in Uzbekistan,
with irrigation consuming much of the available water resources.
Cotton is the country’s most important crop. In the 1980s, as a
Soviet country, about 2 million tons of cotton was produced in
Uzbekistan per year. After independence in 1991, the govern-
ment made efforts to restructure the agricultural sector to grow
food crops and reduce water consumption, which led to a decline
in cotton production by about one-third (Abdullayev, 2009).
However, Uzbekistan still remains dependent on agriculture as
a main economic sector, and believes that the Rogun Dam will
change the flow of the Amu Darya River, thus impacting water,
food, and environmental safety for Uzbekistan and all other down-
stream countries. Once built, the reservoir may take as long as 16
years to fill (World Bank, 2014), and during this period, water
flow to downstream countries would be dramatically reduced,
creating a tense situation in the region. Uzbek authorities suggest
Tajikistan could pursue smaller projects with a smaller impact on
downstream countries. At the time of writing, Tajikistan has not
considered alternative projects.
Tajikistan has a rich potential for harnessing hydropower
on its territory, but at present, only 5 percent of this potential
is being exploited, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Tajikistan. Importantly, Tajikistan's main export is aluminum,
and production takes up nearly 40 percent of total electricity con-
sumption, contributing to regular power cuts. Approximately 70
percent of the Tajik population suffers from extensive shortages of
electricity during the winter (Bensmann, 2010). Upon completing
the dam, Tajikistan hopes to end these shortages and export more
electricity to neighboring countries. Given the large investment
required, as well as the long construction period, Tajikistan could
pursue smaller projects and consider other renewable energy
resources and energy-efficiency projects. On the other hand, con-
sidering its consumption of huge amounts of water, Uzbekistan
could also opt for a more rational use of water resources for irriga-
tion purposes.
The final outcome depends on cooperation. According to
the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses
of International Watercourses (May, 1997) states have to consult
each other and give timely notification if they want to use the
watercourse in a new or different way, which may have a signifi-
cant adverse effect on other states. This universal document sets
out a basic obligation to use international waters in an equal and
reasonable way, calling on the international community to negoti-
ate a mutually acceptable solution.
These neighboring countries, first and foremost, need to
build trust and increase confidence through shaping a dialogue.
Given that the present situation is in deadlock, this may seem
naïve. However, if we take a closer look at the options each side
can pursue unilaterally, then there seems to be no best alterna-
tive to a negotiated agreement in the long term. What is needed
is a patient and balanced approach in dealing with this complex
problem. An equally balanced approach from the international
community would also be welcome. During his visit to Uzbekistan
within his Central Asian tour, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
introduced Smart Waters, a new U.S. multiyear program for the
five Central Asian countries and Afghanistan which seeks to
build a cadre of administrators capable of managing shared water
resources to maximize their economic value (Uzbekistan Today,
2015). If pursued with patience and zeal, this program could well
pave the way for more mutual understanding in the long term.
“What is needed is a patient and
balanced approach in dealing
with this complex problem”
In summary, transboundary water disputes pose complex
questions and carry the potential to spark conflict or cooperation.
In Central Asia, there seems to be the potential for both. We hope
for a peaceful settlement in the future.
ScholarForum 7
 research abstract:
Climate Change, Mass Migration,
and Civil Conflict
Ramesh GHIMIRE, Nepal
Global Supplementary Grants Program, 2012, 2013
Climate change is increasingly viewed
as a global security threat. Many officials
and analysts have warned that it will desta-
bilize fragile countries by displacing count-
less people. As a result, a growing body of
literature has started analyzing the direct
links between natural disasters and conflict.
However, very limited research looks at the
potential channels through which natural
disasters can ignite conflict, such as dis-
placement and migration. In a study recent-
ly published in World Development, my fellow
researchers and I analyze the link between
flood-induced displacement and civil con-
flict to understand how the movement of
populations impacted by large floods can
lead to armed conflict. Using a two-step
econometric estimation approach, we are
research abstract:
Unsafe in the
Home of the Other:
Understanding
Anti-Immigrant
Violence (The Russia-
Tajikistan Case)
Abdusabur ABDUSAMADOV, Tajikistan
Doctoral Fellows Program 2008-2013,
Civil Society Scholar Awards 2014
This research examines the problem
of growing violence by sections of Russian
society and how they are experienced by
Tajik labor immigrants. At present, flows
of labor migrants, an absence of accurate
mechanisms regulating these flows, and
frequent changes of, and amendments to,
migration policy are factors that have the
able to account for the fact that displace-
ment, and even the very occurrence of a
flood disaster, may be more likely in areas
already experiencing conflict. Moreover,
our econometric analysis accounts for a
range of socioeconomic and political vari-
ables that are believed to ignite civil con-
flicts. Our results suggest that large floods
significantly increase the probability of the
continuation of existing armed conflicts due
to sudden and mass influxes of people dis-
placed by flooding. If the historical relation-
ship between populations displaced by
floods and armed conflict continues, our
results suggest that the future is likely to see
more conflict, in the absence of adaptation
and mitigation efforts.
potential to contribute to violence against
labor immigrants. The main focus of this
research is to examine the dynamics of
violence against Tajik labor immigrants
caused by inefficiency in the norms regu-
lating the process of migration flows in
Russia. This analysis has focused on cross-
national patterns of violence committed
by individual Russian citizens and the
Russian state and authorities against immi-
grants on the base of the stories of labor
immigrants themselves.
The subject of anti-immigrant violence
is relatively new in post-Soviet academia, as
well as in sociology in general. By observ-
ing the lived experience of Tajik labor
immigrants in Russia, this research sheds
light on the violent situations experienced
by them on a daily basis. It also examines
the phenomenon of the skinhead sub-
culture as a new source of violence and
demonstrates how the rights of labor immi-
grants are violated through a nationalized
Keywords: Climate change, natural
disasters, mass migration, and civil conflict
From: Ghimire, Ramesh, Susana Ferreira,
and Jeffrey H. Dorfman (2015), “Flood-
induced Displacement and Civil Conflict,”
World Development, 66 (Feb.): 614-628.
Ramesh GHMIRE is currently a
research fellow in the Warnell School
of Forestry and Natural Resources
at the University of Georgia, USA.
immigration policy and the xenophobic
nature of segments of the population of
Russian society.
The results of this study will produce
research-based knowledge to develop a
deeper understanding of how anti-immi-
grant violence is experienced and inter-
preted by the immigrants themselves. It
will help in the design of anti violence
approaches and ultimately increase the
awareness of the situation of Tajik labor
immigrants and their social lives.
Keywords: anti-immigrant-violence, Tajik
labor migrants, lifeworld, xenophobia,
interpretive understanding, social
theory, sociological perspective.
Abdusabur ABDUSAMADOV is
pursuing a PhD in sociology at the
University of Missouri, USA.
 alumni interview
Ramesh SUNAM
Research Associate Crawford School of
Public Policy
Global Supplementary Grants
Program 2013, 2014
The Open Society Scholarship Programs
has funded thousands of people around the
world to enable them to advance research that
is critical to promoting a better understanding
of their home countries. Ramesh Sunam,
a Global Supplementary Grants
Program alum from Nepal, is focus- “We can safely say that
ing his academic career on migra-
tion flows and the myriad impact it international labor migration
has on the people and communities
involved. We spoke to him about
is a double-edged sword”
his research, the nature of the academic field,
and his motivations for studying this complex
phenomenon.
ScholarForum (SF): Ramesh, you
have recently completed your PhD at
Australian National University. Can you
tell us a little about your research?
Ramesh Suman (RS): My PhD research
topic is a simple but interesting one in both
theoretical and policy terms. I examined wheth-
er international labor migration helps poor
people to come out of poverty. I answered this
question by focusing on the case of Nepal,
where a large number of rural people have been
travelling overseas for employment to change
their lives back home. My research revealed a
mixed story: by being involved in labor migra-
tion, some rural people were able to come out
of poverty, while others fell into poverty traps.
Critical factors in helping people either come
out of or remain in poverty include the level
of assets rural people hold, including land; the
exploitation they experience during the migra-
tion process; and the terms and conditions of
the employment in destination countries, to
name just a few. We can safely say that interna-
tional labor migration is a double-edge sword
as it can be a pathway for some poor people
to prosperity, but can also drive others deeper
into poverty.
SF: What made you interested in research-
ing migration issues? What made you
focus on these particular populations?
RS: Poverty is a critical development issue.
It is no longer only linked to land and agri-
culture. Poor people have been struggling to
improve their livelihoods by engaging only in
agriculture. In rural places, a lack of state sup-
port means that a crisis in agriculture looms
large and employment is scarce. As a result,
poor people are moving out of their home
countries in search of work. They are more
mobile now than before. In the past, only well-
off people could afford long-distance migra-
tion. In recent years, poor people are also
travelling overseas. This form of migration is a
rising trend and is different from rural-urban
or seasonal migration in that migrants spend a
longer time in destination countries and poten-
tially generate larger remittances. It also raises
these questions: How has this kind of migra-
tion impacted the poverty status of migrants?
Are they improving their livelihoods or falling
into poverty traps? These critical questions com-
pelled me to pursue research into international
labor migration. I’m also motivated by my own
family background. I grew up in a poor family
in rural Nepal. I have seen what it means to
be poor. My younger brother was a migrant
worker.
“I consider the engagement
of researchers with civil
society as paramount
to transforming them”
SF: You have published articles in the Journal
of Ethnic and Migration Studies and the
Journal of Peasant Studies, among others.
What do you think are under-researched
areas, be them geographical or theoretical,
within the migration studies field?
RS: There is a large body of literature on
migration. However, the literature is diverse as
there is no single type of migration: temporary,
rural-urban, seasonal, forced, climate-induced,
and so forth. Among these, there has been lim-
ited in-depth research on the terms of inclusion
into global labor circuits experienced by tempo-
rary migrant workers. This is a very important
topic, as there has been growing international
news coverage regarding the exploitation and
abuse of migrant workers in destination countries,
particularly in the Middle East and Malaysia. This
is unfortunate. Spending large sums of money
and leaving their loved ones, workers travel over-
seas for employment in the hope of building pros-
perous families back home. But they often end
up being trapped in exploitative labor conditions
and regimes. Equally important topics worth
exploring are South-South labor migration and
migration as a climate change adaptation strategy.
SF: How do you engage as a scholar with
civil society? What tools or mechanisms
do you find effective to bridge that gap?
RS: I consider the engagement of research-
ers with civil society as paramount to transform-
ing them. While the role of scholars is impor-
tant to illuminate multiple realities and explore
ideas for change through rigorous research, this
is not enough to ensure that key messages reach
policy makers and the public, and then make a
difference. Regular dialogues may facilitate
communication between scholars and social
activists. Research-informed policy briefs, docu-
mentaries, seminars and blogs constitute
important communication tools. Currently,
what we need is more than a dialogue
between researchers, policymakers, and
civil society. We need to focus on creat-
ing a research environment where these
actors can work together to coproduce
policy-relevant knowledge and ideas to
promote an equal and just society.
Ramesh SUNAM is currently working
as a research associate at the Crawford
School of Public Policy at Australian
National University where he received his
PhD in 2015. Ramesh is an alumus of
the Open Society Global Supplementary
Grants Program.
ScholarForum 9
 REGIONAL FOCUS

Central Asia
and Mongolia Russia

Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan
Mongolia
Turkmenistan

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan
China

Afghanistan

Pakistan
India

The Multiple Faces of Civil Society: Inherited

Map adapted from CIA World Factbook. Public domain.

“Public Organizations” in Mongolia

Dr. Byambajav DALAIBUYAN, Mongolia
Global Supplementary Grants Program, 2010-2011

Like many former socialist-bloc coun-
tries, Mongolia had state-sponsored orga-
nizations representing large socio-demo-
graphic groups such as workers, young
people, and women, as well as smaller orga-
nizations promoting special interests such
as environmental conservation, art and
athleticism. The main objective assigned
to these “public organizations” (olon niitiin
baiguullaguud) (abbreviated to PO hereaf-
ter) was to assist the Communist Party in
enforcing the Marxist-Leninist line and
to educate the population in the spirit of
communism. After two decades of post-
socialist transition however, POs did not
disappear, nor were they replaced by new
associations as some had predicted. The
trajectory of these inherited POs in the
post-socialist transition has varied, but
some organizations still remain significant
in Mongolia.
Mongolia is relatively distinct among
post-socialist countries, as the Communist
Party enjoyed high levels of public sup-
port in the aftermath of the transition to
democracy and a market-based economy.
The Mongolian People’s Revolutionary
Party (MPRP), now the Mongolian People’s
Party, won the first free parliamentary elec-
tion in June 1990, and had overwhelming
wins in 1992 and 2000. The MPRP’s politi-
cal status alone could not be sufficient for
POs to remain significant in society. Unlike
“Unlike fledgling voluntary and civic
associations, POs had inherited
institutional capacity and human capital”
fledgling voluntary and civic associations,
POs had inherited institutional capac-
ity and human capital. The leadership of
prominent POs was often comprised of
government employees who had the capac-
ity to mobilize people and resources. Thus,
organizational structures remained largely
unchanged and were effective in maintain-
ing relations with the grassroots.
Unlike NGOs, which are to a large
extent dependent on donor funding, some
POs were more resourceful despite the
fact that the state funding and subsidies
were mostly suspended in 1990. Some POs
received government grants or contractor
payments as the only legitimate organiza-
tion representing a particular sociodemo-
graphic group. Some POs inherited office
buildings and other facilities. Moreover,
like NGOs, POs were also looking for their
own niche within transnational aid pro-
grams. Some POs, especially those working
for women and youth, were more success-
ful in gaining this funding (Byambajav,
2012), in part due to a lack of competing
organizations.
There have been many occasions since
the 1990s in which new “free” or “inde-
pendent” associations challenged the legiti-
macy of POs. A lack of consistent effort to
advance the interests of their constituents
has been a major point of criticism against
POs. The Free Association of Mongolian
Senior Citizens (FAMSC) organized a series
of demonstrations in 2005 to demand
a government pension increase. The
Association of Mongolian Senior Citizens
(AMSC), a PO, criticized FAMSC’s actions
as tactically wrong because they conflicted
with social norms and expectations for
elders. In turn, the FAMSC criticized
the AMSC for serving the interests of
the ruling party (Byambajav, 2012). In
addition to different modes of action, dif-
ferences in ideological perspectives also
caused divides. A notable example is two
main networks of women’s NGOs, one of
which is led by the Mongolian Women’
Federation, a PO. The two groups seem
to have significantly different views on the
objective of the women’s movement in
Mongolia. One group promotes feminist
ideas, while the other has a rather tradi-
tional view of gender roles regarding the
family and society (Byambajav, 2013).
“Participation in public organizations
was a privilege and a social opportunity
for many people during socialism”
Donors often prefer to support newer
“free” associations and NGOs while being
cautious about hybrid, quasi-state or infor-
mal associations. However, some of them
can be effective in advancing social causes
due to their embeddedness in the cultural
context. POs were not merely satellites of
the Communist party, but were a way in
which individuals pursued their own inter-
ests within the remit of the political frame-
work. Participation in POs was a privilege
and a social opportunity for many people
during socialism. Participants internalized
social activism and became aware of the
potential of collective action. Importantly,
the image of POs as a frontrunner for
social change still lingers in today’s pub-
lic discourse. A notable example is the
Mongolian Youth Federation that often
refers to the positive role played by youth
leagues in the socialist era to mobilize
young people across the country.
However, it should be noted that,
while some POs remain active, their mem-
bership and supporter base has declined
substantially. Many special interest POs,
such as environmental conservation societ-
ies, have ceased to exist. Local chapters of
POs lack the capacity and resources to
sustain their operations, relying on local
government personnel instead. Reforms
need to be initiated within POs, along with
innovative leadership, to change them into
independent and participatory organiza-
tions while preserving their inherited
advantages. In the absence of organizations
that can create spaces for civic engagement,
especially in rural settings, POs may
become a potential way that has not yet
been fully utilized to cultivate civil society
in Mongolia. As Lane argues, a policy
agenda should be developed to support
associations embedded in post-socialist
societies, even though they do not neces-
sarily fit conveniently into the mainstream
approach of promoting civil society (Lane,
2005). If well-managed, for instance, some
POs may serve as an optimal way to deliver
social services to different sociodemo-
graphic groups in Mongolia.
ScholarForum 11
 photo essay:
From Ruin to Renaissance
on Lake Issyk-kul
Zulaika ESENTAEVA, Kyrgyzstan
Doctoral Fellows Program, 2012-2017

Balykchi is a small town in Kyrgyzstan near Lake Issyk-Kul.
Since independence in 1991, the town has witnessed massive out-
migration. People have been moving to Bishkek, the capital, as well
as farther afield to Germany, Kazakhstan, and Russia in search of jobs
and other economic opportunities. What used to be an industrial
city with working factories was slowly turning into a gloomy and grey
town, losing it citizens, prosperity, and hope. Soviet-style socialism
was replaced by ill-running capitalism with privatization that led
industries to be torn into small parts and sold off piece-by-piece.
But citizens adapted. When you travel to Lake Issyk-Kul in the
summer, you can see Balykchi from a car window as the region’s
first welcoming post. You can see the old cinema theater, the
untouched Lenin monument, as well as renovated and new shops
and cafes on the main road used by all the tourists. The town is
rising from the ashes, but it will never return to its former glory
under the Soviet Union. Rusting industries are a strong visual
symbol of the Soviet Union’s implosion and the rise of “Wild
West”-style capitalism.

Alumni and staff gathered at the Future

of Democracy conference at Central
European University in December 2013
photo: Thomas WILSON
 Ships on the lake serve as
a reminder of Balykchi's
former industrial glory.
Photo: Zulaika ESENTAEVA

“The town is rising

from the ashes,
but it will never
return to its former
glory under the
Soviet Union”

Cranes are a feature of the

landscape along Lake Issyk-kul.
Photo: Zulaika ESENTAEVA

ScholarForum 13
Academic
Showcase
Changes caused by the market in
academic programs at institutions
of higher education in Mongolia
Narantuya JUGDER, Mongolia
Global Supplementary Grants Program, 2012-14
Introduction
With the collapse of the socialist bloc, Mongolia faced sud-
den political and economic changes that abruptly moved its
higher education system from total control by the state to a self-
governing and self-financing system. This article describes what
the causes of academic expansion were in universities. It does
so in light of the changes in the relationship between the state,
market, and academia in Mongolian higher education that began
with the new education law that established the foundation for
market practices in higher education.
“The rapid expansion of
academic offerings by
universities failed to supply
the country with specialists
with relevant qualifications”
Employing a multiple case study methodology for both state
and private universities, my research engages Clark’s (1983) con-
cept of “the triangle of coordination,” which focuses on three ele-
ments of coordination— the state, the market, and academe—and
Jongbloed’s (2003) model of “the eight conditions for a market”
for higher education institutions. Through a thematic analysis of
50 interviews with university administrators and decision-making
officials as well as a document review, the case study shows how
higher education reform policy has been interpreted and imple-
mented at the institutional level, as well as how this context has
influenced undergraduate curricular provision. The focus of the
study is on the undergraduate, rather than postgraduate level, due
The following articles reflect the diversity and
substance of the academic work conducted by
Scholarship Programs scholars and alumni. We
hope that both the methods and the content of the
research finds resonance with your own research
interests. References are available upon request
to scholarforum@opensocietyfoundations.org.
to the study’s financial and time constraints.
The study finds that for both state and private universities,
academic programs were the core factor behind increases in finan-
cial resources, consumer attraction, and institutional reputation.
However, the rapid expansion of academic offerings by universi-
ties failed to supply the country with specialists with relevant
qualifications. This is because universities focused on offering
the most marketable or profitable courses to earn income. Due
to this, the state was “called in” to regulate and ensure adequate
course offerings in fields deemed crucial to national development.
Causes for Expanding Academic Programs
In accordance with the legal changes within the system dur-
ing the transition, higher education became more engaged with
market forces. Universities thus faced the necessity of transform-
ing their academic content, as this was crucial to adapt curricula
to changing external needs. The study evidenced that in response
to the changing market, state institutions began to expand their
offerings to new fields along with their old specialized areas, while
newly emerging private institutions started with specialized areas,
such as language studies, or solely as an institute of law. Within
four or five years, those private institutes rapidly extended their
academic programs, primarily in the fields of social science and
the humanities. As one respondent stated, in the 1990s the min-
istry was led by the decisions of higher education institutions
and there was no consistency in organizing academic teaching at
private institutions. Although the market's influence was gener-
ally demonstrated in the expansion of provision both at state and
private universities, it was strongest in the case of private universi-
ties. The difference between state and private universities was in
the way they expanded their courses. While overlapping courses
across schools was typical at state universities, for private univer-
sities each case was different. Some kept adding new courses to
existing programs, while others kept changing their courses.
There were two distinctive phenomena in terms of curricular
responsiveness. One was the emergence of a wide range of new
courses and fields. The other was conceptual changes in the way
knowledge was delivered. Based on Jongbloed’s (2003) concept
of the market model for higher education, this study sought the
causes of change in academic programs. The findings regarding
the causes behind the offering of new fields were important, as
they illustrated the strength of the influence of either the state or
the market. Interviewee responses showed that the market had a
strong influence over curricular provision during the transition
in the 1990s, but this
changed slightly in the
middle of the 2000s in “The market gradually failed to supply the country
favor of the state, as
evidenced by increasing with specialists with relevant qualifications
state coordination.
In terms of concep-
because consumers rushed to choose popular
tual changes, the aims courses such as law, economics, computer
of curriculum and cur-
riculum content have science, and business management”
changed significantly.
Interview sources illustrated that the aims of the curriculum have
shifted from more academic, or as some people call it “theoreti-
cal, or Russian type,” to more “pragmatic” or a “more American”
model. The latter was viewed as a curriculum focused primarily on
producing graduates who are able to apply knowledge and skills in
specific areas of employment.
Interaction of the State, the Market, and Academia
Based on Clark’s (1983) concept of the triangle of coordina-
tion, a comparative analysis of the state and private universities
was developed based on the two themes of state/university and
market/university relationships. A changing relationship among
government, market, and university was well evidenced in the
changes of curricular provision.
The primary purpose of the state policy has been to assure the
quality of programs and increase competitiveness. Respondents
from policy making institutions and universities were in agree-
ment that the existing courses and their quality had not been
meeting consumer or employer expectations. The case studies
revealed that all schools opened numerous programs to earn
money. This in turn became an obstacle to development and still
causes a big problem with content overlap. The assumption that
the market can regulate the need for professionals such as engi-
neers and primary school teachers (a provision currently lacking
in Mongolia) was not justified because consumers were not mak-
ing rational decisions. Moreover, some higher education institu-
tions, especially private institutions, could change their academic
programs so fast that it was hard to see any coherent policy.
Most notably, the market gradually failed to supply the coun-
try with specialists with relevant qualifications because consumers
rushed to choose popular courses such as law, economics, com-
puter science, and business management. This has been a pattern
in undergraduate education. For example, if in the early 1990s law
and languages were the most popular fields, since 1995 the choice
has become more selective and has shifted to English, Japanese,
and Korean. The reason for this selectivity was connected with
labor demand. The latest trend in languages is increased demand
for English, followed by Chinese. This situation has created an
imbalance in human resources and is a significant feature of
market failure. This market-driven characteristic was indicated in
documentary sources and interviewee responses.
The failure of the market to supply strategically important
fields called for state intervention. All these factors show that
the immature market seemed unable to regulate this situation
and led to chaos in the system, causing the public to demand
state control. This resulted in the redefinition of the role of the
state. As a result, state authority was restored through political
influence and legal homogeneity (Neave and Van Vught, 1994) to
create a similarity of provision and conditions within the national
higher education system. Nevertheless, in the 20 years since the
fall of communism, the increase in the private market share of
higher education has been significant, and the government does
not consider the market as antithetical because, as with many
other countries, the Mongolian state sees a more market and
economically-oriented higher education sector as important to
national interests (Kubler, 2010).
However, the findings also show that academic freedom has
shrunk to a great extent with state involvement in the content of
the curriculum through standardization and licensing, along with
an admission quota for both state and private institutions. The
findings confirmed that the direction of state policy in the first
ScholarForum 15
decade of the post-communist transition focused on deregulation
and decentralization leading to institutional autonomy. In the
last decade, however, state policy has become more consolidating,
even recentralizing, to some extent.
Conclusion
In sum, the findings of the study demonstrated the rising
trend of the market-driven approach in academic programs in
response to consumer demand on the one hand, and increasing
state coordination policy to steer it in a direction beneficial to
the country, on the other. The findings of the case studies and
the comparative analysis showed that the relationship between
the three forces of the state, the market, and academia has not
been static but dynamic because the demand for quality increased
a form of interaction between the state and the university cur-
“Academic freedom has shrunk
to a great extent with state
involvement in the content
of the curriculum”
riculum (Becher, 1994). In general, it should be noted that the
marketization of Mongolian higher education was not a process
on its own, but was rather profoundly connected with changes in
the political, social, and cultural context of the country.
This study also suggests further research to see if the case is
similar in other post-communist transitioning countries.

research in progress

Women and Religion

in Central Asia
Aziza SHANAZAROVA, Uzbekistan
Civil Society Scholar Awards 2014-2015

My primary area of research focuses
on the issues and problems of the reli-
gious and socio-political status of women
in Central Asia, with an emphasis on the
early modern period. During my predis-
sertation research in Uzbekistan in the
summer of 2014 as a Civil Society Scholar
Award recipient, I carried out exploratory
research at research libraries in Uzbekistan.
This opportunity helped me significantly
to gather important materials for my dis-
sertation.
One of the objectives of my disserta-
tion is to explore the role that women
played in the development of Sufism and
Islam in Central Asia. For this, I use the
case of a sixteenth-century Sufi woman
who was known under the title “Agha-yi
Buzurg,” which means “Great Lady.” The
main historical source I will be examining
is the hagiography entitled Mazhar al-‘aja’
ib, a text dedicated to Agha-yi Buzurg writ-
ten in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, by her male
disciple, Hafiz Basir, in the second half
of the sixteenth century. This work still
remains in manuscript form.
Using the case of Agha-yi Buzurg, I Aziza SHANAZAROVA is a doctoral
will explore the position of women in the candidate at Indiana University-
history of the broader Central Asian region Bloomington’s Central Eurasian
in different economic, social, and ethnic Studies and Religious Studies
groups. I will engage with the question of Departments, and will be a visiting
gender in Islamic societies of Central Asia, fellow at Stanford University in
exploring how these societies make gender the 2016-17 academic year.
distinctions, how designations of male and
female and masculinity and femininity
developed, and how these perceptions
were, and are, propagated. I will also exam-
ine how these patterns change over time,
especially in increasingly globalized con-
texts. Most importantly, my dissertation
will examine the fundamental role played
by religious traditions in defining roles for
women in the Islamic societies of
Central Asia.
Keywords: Central Asia, women, religion,
Sufism, gender.
 alumni views
What I’m Learning: Reflections
on the Social Work Fellowship
Alumni Conference, January 2015
Noor MAJDALANI, Jordan
Social Work Fellowship Program, 2012-2014
As a social worker, I continue to see that poverty, in all its
multifaceted forms, remains the most pressing problem affecting
Jordanian society. Consequently, poverty remains the most fre-
quently occurring problem that social workers have to deal with. I
have been working on youth development programs for over seven
years now, aiming to provide better social, educational, and employ-
ment opportunities to vulnerable youth.
“Social work as a profession
directly contributes to
poverty reduction”
I had the chance to get an international perspective on the
work of other social workers at the Social Work Fellowship Program
Alumni Conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in January 2015. It
was an inspiring experience. Initially, I had envisioned a limited
discussion of social work in each country, but I was impressed at
the diversity of topics presented and discussed. Through the con-
ference, I got to hear from other participants about how poverty
in Tajikistan is affecting children, and that orphanages are filled
with “social orphans”: children whose biological parents have given
them up due to limited access to education, food, or health care.
Further north in Kyrgyzstan, I heard about poverty being one of the
main reasons behind a gender gap within the education system, as
boys often have to drop out of school at earlier ages to begin work-
ing in order to help the family.
Generally speaking, in Jordan and the Middle East, there is a
convergence of views toward a holistic approach to poverty eradica-
tion. Despite this, there is little direct involvement in policy, plan-
ning, and programing efforts from the side of social workers.
Social work as a profession directly contributes to poverty
reduction. In the case of Jordan, there is a clear underrepresenta-
tion of ‘macro level’ practice, in terms of research, policy advocacy,
and social action, to address issues at the institutional and broader
structural levels. Such a focus on research and policy could help
Jordan’s poverty pockets, underserved areas, and communities with
a high influx of Syrian refugees, which has placed significant strain
on public services.
One of the most inspiring achievements I heard at the confer-
ence was the experience of Georgian and Mongolian alumni who
established, developed, and ran social work associations. These
associations now have the power to implement reforms in the
social work sector. Their academic and practical work in the social
sphere is very important, and these models demonstrate the posi-
tive impact collaboration can have when academia, ministries, and
social workers work together.
My main takeaway from the conference was learning new ways
of how social workers can help engage with the “bigger picture” of
developing policy reforms aimed at supporting grassroots activities
that create a tangible impact on people’s lives. It was also clear that
local social work education and training needs to produce a profes-
sional social welfare workforce. Jordan needs the creation of an
effective system of social services that strategically contribute toward
progress in social development, specifically toward policies to allevi-
ate poverty. It is essential for Jordanian social work fellows like us to
“It is essential for Jordanian
social work fellows like us
to learn from the experience
of other countries”
learn from the experience of other countries and create effective
social work curricula, and sustainable and active social work asso-
ciations. The Bishkek conference nourished my ideas for work to
come, and I felt a renewed sense of community with social work
fellowship alumni. The meeting highlighted how much we really
can learn from each other.
ScholarForum 17
 Alumni
Updates
The following snapshots provide a
brief update of the activities, research
interests, and professional occupa-
tions of Open Society Scholarship
Programs’ alumni across the world.
Email addresses have been published
where permission has been given.
Asia Pacific
Scholarship
Consortium
2008
Aye Min KHAING is working as lecturer/head
of the Community Development Studies
Department at the Myanmar Institute of
Theology. Among other functions, Aye Min over-
sees the functions of lecturers and professors in
their teaching activities and coordinates activities
within the Institute. ayemin.khaing@gmail.com
Khun SOE is a project management specialist
at the Economic Growth Office of the USAID
Burma mission. Khun is responsible for oversee-
ing USAID Burma agricultural portfolios.
Hla Myat TUN is an advocate for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer
(LGBTIQ) rights in Myanmar. He is currently
the head of Colors Rainbow and is a mem-
ber of the Myanmar LGBT Rights Network.
tun.hlamyatt@gmail.com
2009
Hein Htet AUNG is working as a general practi-
tioner as well as providing reproductive health
services.
Sopeat MER is involved in research on gender,
good governance, and women’s empowerment
in Cambodia. Sopeat has also worked for EIRKS
Development Partner as a program monitor-
ing officer. With ERIKS, Sopeat was involved
in program design and follow up support for
children’s rights and child education programs.
measopeat@yahoo.com
Khin Moe Moe OO rejoined UNICEF after grad-
uating from Hong Kong University, Myanmar,
as resident program officer up to 2012 and then
worked as an HIV officer for Upper Myanmar.
She works to prevent the transmission of HIV
and AIDS from mother to child. Her par-
ticular focus is partnering with local groups to
implement transmission prevention programs in
areas such as Kachin that are marked by ethnic
conflict.
Elizabeth THAWNG is a monitoring and eval-
uation manager in the International Rescue
Committee’s Project for Local Empowerment
in Thailand.
2010
Khou HAV is a media communication officer at
Pact in Cambodia. khouhav@gmail.com
Hongnapha PHOMMABOUTH is a program
manager at the Development Environment in
Community Association, a local nonprofit asso-
ciation in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
She is also manages projects promoting green
communities and chemical-free agriculture. The
projects focus on youth capacity building, gender
empowerment, primary education, sustainable
environmental issues, clean agriculture, and rural
development. hong.napha@gmail.com
Phanisone SAMOUNTRY works at the Ministry
of Agriculture and Forestry in the Lao People’s
Democratic Republic. Phanisone’s most recent
project was coordinating was integrated watershed
management planning for the Nam Ngum River
basin. pnssamountry@gmail.com
Bawi Tha THAWNG is involved in customary land
tenure research, as well as small- to medium- enter-
prise development in the Chin and Shan states in
Myanmar. Bawi Tha is interested in the country’s
laws and policies relating to regional develop-
ment. cliffordthawng@gmail.com
Borin UN is a research fellow and freelance
consultant in natural resource management
policy. Borin is currently undertaking a study
on fishery management policy and livelihood
adaptation among fishing-farming communi-
ties around the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia.
borin.un@gmail.com
Aye Nyein SAN has been working with internally
displaced populations in Northern Myanmar
since 2012, and is currently at the UNHCR
office in Bhamo. ansabaie@gmail.com
2011
Nu Nu AUNG is preparing to do research on the
environment at the Promotion Of Indigenous
and Nature Together (POINT) in Myanmar.
doctor.nunu@gmail.com
Mak CHANSOPHAL is a counselling psychologist
at Khmer Counselling Psychology Services. Mak
Chansophal currently provides technical support
to a counselor team at the Cambodian Children’s
Fund and to the Psychology Dictionary Project at
Royal University of Phnom Penh. In addition,
Chansophal is also a career advisory service
volunteer at at the Royal University of Phnom
Penh. makchansophal@yahoo.com
Diana Seg HWKAWN is a counseling psychologist
in training at Pun Hlaing-Silom International
Hospital in Myanmar. Diana is currently work-
ing with children and adolescents with emo-
tional, psychological, and behavioral problems.
dianalazing@gmail.com
Bouyheak LIM is a part-time local psychological
expert in the psychology MA program at the
Royal University of Phnom Penh. She is also
conducting a research project on the indexing
of parenting programs in Cambodia funded by
UNICEF. The result of this project will inform
the development of a strategy for the design and
implementation of a national positive parenting
program in Cambodia. bouyheak@gmail.com
Vicheth PAK is a lecturer at the Institute of Foreign
Languages in Cambodia. vichethpak@yahoo.com
Sysomphane SENGTHAVIDETH is a conservation-
ist. dtaemsuplb@gmail.com
Chanasook SENGTHAVONG completed an MA
in education management with research focus-
ing on principals and primary public schools in
Laos. ch_sanook@yahoo.com
Phairin SOHSAI works with NGOs in the Mekong
Region as a consultant with International Rivers,
Thailand. Phairin focuses on a campaign exam-
ining the transboundary impacts of human,
environmental, and social rights on people along
the Mekong River. mirindarin@gmail.com
Manolinh THEPKHAMVONG established a legal
aid lawyer group in Laos. Manolinhth@gmail.com
2012
Meatra MEAN recently completed her MA in
development management and governance.
Before pursuing her degree, she was a project
assistant in a community development pro-
gram at the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation.
meatra2013@gmail.com
Seng Aung SEIN MYINT is a program ana-
lyst at the UNFPA Myanmar Country Office.
sengaung24@gmail.com
Kyaw Myo OO has an MA in public affairs, and
is interested in doing more policy research on
disadvantaged groups such as migrants, out of
school youth, and internally displaced people.
kontala1980@gmail.com
Itthirit SUWANNAKAM is working with Thai and
Laotian colleagues on a concept note to present
to human rights donors. itthirit.itt30@gmail.com
Nwe New TUN is conducting research on human
resource management systems and job satisfac-
tion at PDOMEHS, Myanmar, with the aim of
delivering human resource training across the
organization. mdychawsu@gmail.com
2014
Phyu Phyu LWIN is a master trainer at Studer
Trust Teacher Training Center, in Myanmar.
She currently trains teachers from monastic
schools. phyu2lwin@gmail.com
Civil Society
Scholar Awards
2014
Youdeline Joseph CHERIZARD is at the State
University of Haiti, conducting research on the
governance of public security policies in Haiti.
She has been involved in the judicial sector and
protection issues as an activist and professor
of law. Her CSSA grant enabled her to travel
to Quebec to complete internships related to
research. youdcheri@yahoo.fr
Palina PRYSMAKOVA is an assistant professor
at Florida Atlantic University. Palina teaches
in the nonprofit management program and
continues her research on public service moti-
vation in Belarus and Poland. In addition to
her professional life, Palina serves as a secretary
of the South Florida chapter of Belarusian-
American Association, which is a Belarusian
fraternal organization in the United States.
palina.prysmakova@yahoo.com
Mariana ZUBENSCHI is a faculty member at Free
International University of Moldova. Mariana
is researching the legitimization and moderniza-
tion of education and professional guidance
in social work in Moldova and other post-
Soviet countries. The research is part of an
ongoing international collaborative project in
the Republic of Moldova under Project Casa
Mare. As a doctoral fellow in social psychol-
ogy, she is undertaking research and developing
“Vocational Anchor,” a new multidimensional
concept. marianazubenschi@gmail.com
2015
Mohammed ABDALHADI is researching human
rights concepts in Palestinian curricula in Gaza
UNRWA middle schools. mabdalha@uark.edu
Esmeralda AGOLLI is an anthropological archae-
ologist in Albania. Her current research focuses
on the analysis of cultural transmission models
in the Balkans. alda.esmer@gmail.com
Civil Society
Leadership
Awards
2014
Ulvi ALIZADA is the founder and editor-in-chief
of Baku Policy Journal, which brings political and
analytical articles published in the foreign press
to Azerbaijani readers in their own language.
She is also analyzing the recent warming of
relations between the United States and Iran
and, most importantly, how these processes will
affect United States foreign policy in the South
Caucasus. alizade.ulvi@gmail.com
Ranga GWORO is undertaking research for a
study that examines the role of Chinese NGOs
in China's development cooperation with Africa.
rangagworo@gmail.com
Sivann SOM is doing an internship at Radio
Netherlands Worldwide, the Netherlands, and
is undertaking research on international justice
and reconciliation through the local NGOs in
Uganda. sivann_som@yahoo.com
Maria STRIGUNOVA is currently completing
a six-month internship at the World Trade
Organization (WTO). She is assisting the capac-
ity building group of the agriculture division to
provide financial and technical support to devel-
oping countries so they can meet sanitary and
phytosanitary standards and gain access to com-
petitive markets. She plans to utilize her WTO
experience and assist Belarus in the accession
process to the WTO. mstrigunova@gmail.com
Doctoral Fellows
Program
2010
Veronica UNCU is a PhD candidate in sociol-
ogy at the University of Ottawa in Canada.
Her research focuses on the social dynamic
involved in the implementation of an inclusive
education program in the Republic of Moldova.
uncu_veronica@yahoo.com
2011
Salima KASYMOVA is a PhD student at
the University of South Carolina. Salima is
undertaking doctoral research studying policy
efforts related to the promotion of the involve-
ment of fathers in childcare implemented in
Croatia, India, and Mexico. In addition, she is
exploring what factors predict fathers' involve-
ment in childcare in these three countries.
kenzo_13tj@yahoo.com
ScholarForum 19
DAAD-OSI
2011
Ilknur ISGANDAROVA worked on the topic of
collaboration between the Caucasus and the
European Union to highlight the EU’s common
strategy toward this region. Ilknur believes it is
very important to reveal the process of building
relations with foreign countries as an Azeri citi-
zen. i.ilknur@mail.ru
Edmund Muskie/
FSA Graduate
2004
Leila KIKNADZE is an associate professor at
the University of Georgia in Tbilisi, Georgia.
She is interested in radical Islam and Islamic
fundamentalism in the modern Middle East.
leila_kiknadze@yahoo.com
Ochil ZOHIDOV is interested in research in the
philosophy and methodology of science. Ochil
published one book in Germany on Russian
language in 2015 and is close to finishing a text-
book for an MA in the philosophy of science.
otchil_zakhidov@rambler.ru
2005
Joldon KUTMANALIEV is a PhD researcher at
European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
Munkhselenge PUREVDORJ is a lecturer at the
National University of Mongolia. She is undertak-
ing research on globalization and human rights
at the University of Evora, Portugal. She pub-
lished a monograph on early globalization, and
coauthored a book. munkhselenge@gmail.com
Gainiya TAZHINA is an associate professor in
psychology at the University of International
Business, Kazakhstan. She is interested in
the application of social psychological theory
to social issues in Kazakhstan. Gainiya is a
reviewer for The Electronic Journal of e-Learning
included in Elsevier's Scopus Database.
tazhina_g@yahoo.com
2010
Nazgul MINGISHEVA teaches sociology in

Fellowship Joldon is conducting research on ethnic violence

in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, 2010. joldon@yandex.ru
English to foreign students at Karaganda State
Medical University. Nazgul is researching high-

Program
2000
Leyla BAGHIRZADA is an anesthesiologist in
Calgary, Canada, with a research interest in
public health. Her research involves studying the
quality of life of postpartum women, the qual-
ity of recovery following anesthetic, and quality
improvement strategies in patients undergoing
joint replacement. leylashka@yahoo.com
Faculty
Development
Fellowship
2006
Magda Nutsa KOBAKHIDZE is a doctoral
candidate in the Faculty of Education at the
University of Hong Kong. Her research interests
include private supplementary tutoring in a
cross-national perspective and teacher profes-
sionalism. nkobakhidze@gmail.com
2007
Samara IULDASHEVA previously taught American
studies at Jalal-Abad State University, Kyrgyzstan,
and is now conducting research on migration
issues among women in the south of Kyrgyzstan.
samara1979@gmail.com
Cholpon KURMANBAEVA is a head of the
Research, Evaluation and Learning Unit (RELU)
at the Aga Khan Foundation. She is undertaking
research on new forms of poverty among the
er education in Kazakhstan, young Muslims'
identity, sociolinguistics, and globalization.
nazgulm2006@gmail.com
2011
Tengiz SIMASHVILI is analyzing newly-found
documents about the revolutionary and terrorist
activities of a young Stalin.
tengizsimashvili@yahoo.com
Sharofiddin SOLIEV is a lecturer in political
science at the Tajik State University of Law,
Business and Politics. He is conducting research
into the effectiveness of anticorruption policy in
Tajikistan, and is interested in higher education
reform in Tajikistan. sharof55@yahoo.com
2012
Lala ALIYEVA is an associate professor of history

Program educated population in the Kyrgyz Republic.

1998
Mzia CHIKHRADZE is an art historian working
on Western modern and contemporary art his-
tory. She is undertaking research on American
expressionist art and Georgian art of the 1940s
and 1950s. mchikhradze@hotmail.com
2003
Rafail HASANOV is a professor of sociology at Baku
State University who is undertaking research on
social stratification in Azerbaijan with an empha-
sis on the middle class. has_rm62@yahoo.com
Dina SHARIPOVA is an assistant professor at
KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Her
research interests include post-Soviet politics, state-
building, informal institutions, identity politics,
and public opinion. Dina is undertaking research
on attitudes and beliefs toward nationalism in
Kazakhstan. dina.sharipova@kimep.kz
kurmanbaevach@gmail.com
at Baku State University. She works extensively
on the ethnic history of Azerbaijanis and her
main areas of research interest include the ethnic
and religious processes in the Caucasus, particu-
2008 larly in Azerbaijan. lale_agamirze@yahoo.com
Aiaz BAETOV is a regional program coordinator Sergiu MUSTEATA is a historian and dean of
for Central Asia ABA ROLI. baetov.a@gmail.com
history and geography at Ion Creanga State
University, Republic of Moldova. Sergiu is
Kornely KAKACHIA recently became a professor undertaking research on the history of Radio
of political science after a competitive selection. Free Europe and how Soviet Moldavia was
treated in broadcasts during the Cold War.
Zukhra KARIMOVA is a faculty member at the sergiu_musteata@yahoo.com
Tashkent Institute of Postgraduate Medical
Education in Uzbekistan.
zukhramahmit@gmail.com
2009
Maia ARAVIASHVILI is a research coordinator at
the Teachers Professional Development Center,
Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia,
and is a lecturer at Ilia State University. Maia is
undertaking research studying gender issues in
Georgia. m_araviashvili@yahoo.com
Global Faculty
Grant Program
2013
Aida GASIMOVA has published an article, which
she worked on during her GFGP grant, entitled
“Qur’anic Symbolism of the Eyes in Classical
Azeri Turkic Poetry,” in Oriens, #43 / 2015, Issue
1-2, pp. 101-153. gasimovaaida@gmail.com
Lela JANASHVILI is a professor of law. Her research
is on state transformation, democracy and secu-
rity, and public law. lela.janashvili@tsu.ge
Shalala MAMMADOVA is an historian at
Baku State University in Azerbaijan. Shalala
is undertaking research into ethnic conflicts
and religious issues in the Caucasian region.
shalale01@gmail.com
Adil RODIONOV is a sociologist at Eurasian
National University in Kazakhstan and is under-
taking research on nongovernmental organi-
zations in Kazakhstan (http://e-valuation.kz/).
adilrodion@gmail.com
Munir SARHAN is researching evidence-based
learning in the field of university e-learning.
munirjaber@yahoo.com
Tina TSOMAIA is an assistant professor at the
Caucasus School of Journalism and Media
Management at the Georgian Institute of
Public Affairs. She is a member of Cost
Action–Femicide Across the Europe, the first
pan-European coalition against femicide. Her
research topics are pre-natal sex selection in the
South Caucasus, trauma and addiction, ethical
decision making, and health communication.
tsomaiat@gmail.com
2013
Kishimzhan ESHENKULOVA is an instructor at
Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University. Her research
interests include Islamic philosophy, Islamic
studies, history and the philosophy of science
in Islamic civilizations, comparative philosophy:
East and West, and the theory of knowledge.
kishimjan@gmail.com
Global
Supplementary
Grant Program
2006
Ariuntuya MYAGMAR is a researcher at Mori
Arinori Center for Higher Education and Global
Mobility, Hitotsubashi University. Ariuntuya is
conducting research into student mobility in
Mongolia and Japan. ariunm@gmail.com
Ridvan PESHKOPIA teaches political science at
the University for Business and Technology,
Kosovo, where he also chairs the UBT Press and
the Center for Public Opinion Research. His
areas of interest include international relations,
political behavior, social theory, formal models,
migration studies, institutional reforms, and film
studies. ridvan.peshkopia@ubt-uni.net
2008
Ramin SHAFAGATOV is a doctoral researcher at
the Centre for EU Studies at Ghent University,
Belgium. ramin.shafagatov@ugent.be
Aijan SHARSHENOVA is completing her doc-
toral research into EU democracy promotion in
Central Asia at the University of Leeds, and is
a research fellow at a Volkswagen Foundation-
funded joint project run by Bielefeld University,
the Technical University Dortmund, and the
Justus Liebig University Giessen.
2009
Rafael BAKHTAVORYAN is an assistant profes-
sor of agribusiness at Texas A&M University-
Commerce. His research areas include consumer
demand analysis, applied econometrics, and fore-
casting. He teaches multiple classes per semester
along with conducting research.
Anna MARTIROSYAN is interested in state mili-
tarization, social movements, and social inclu-
sion in post-Soviet states. She is seeking a
post-doctoral fellowship to advance her research.
annamartirosyan@hotmail.com
Assel TUTUMLU is an assistant professor at in
the Department of International Relations at
Gediz University, Turkey. She is working on an
edited volume on multilateralism (together with
Gaye Gungor, PhD) and issues of authoritarian
persistence in Central Asia and beyond.
2010
Elina DALE is a technical officer in the health
financing policy department at the World Health
Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Gerda SULA is an early childhood education
specialist and activist working in Albania. Her
PhD research contained important results that
are helping shape and improve early childhood
education professional development strategies in
the country. gerda.sula@unitir.edu.al
2011
Tayana ARAKCHAA is conducting anthropo-
logical research about hunting economies among
the Tozhu reindeer herder-hunters in Southern
Siberia. She will complete her PhD program in
May 2015. tayanaa1@yahoo.com
Natalia FORRAT is completing her dissertation
on the connection between authoritarianism,
social policy, and state capacity in Putin's Russia.
Irakli JAPARIDZE is finishing his PhD studies.
His thesis concentrates on issues of relative
motive in consumption, fertility differentials,
and their links.
Branimir JOVANOVIC returned to Skopje after
finishing his PhD in Rome to work as an eco-
nomic researcher at the central bank. After
recent antigovernment protests, he resigned and
became actively involved. He spends his time
both investigating poverty and inequality and
acting socially. He thinks he made the right deci-
sion. brantscho@gmail.com
Enass KHANSA worked as the special advisor to
the chairman at the Atlantic Media Company in
Washington, D.C., before becoming a Mellon
postdoctoral fellow and the ambassador of the
Santiago de Compostela Cultural Heritage Site
to ICOMOS (2015-2016). ewk7@georgetown.edu
DB SUBEDI has a PhD in Peace and Conflict
Studies from University of New England,
Australia. Subedi is working as an independent
researcher in the area of peace, conflict, and
security in Nepal. His research interests include
peace and conflict, community security, violence
prevention, countering violent extremism, post-
disaster recovery, and post-war reconciliation,
state-building, migration, Nepal, and South Asia.
db_subedi@yahoo.co.uk
David TSIREKIDZE is a PhD candidate at Stanford
University. David is undertaking research on
international trade and network theory.
Byambaa TSOGTBAATAR is director of the
Mongolian Public Health Institute, the integral
institution in lowering the overall burden of
disease in Mongolia. tbyambaa@sfu.ca
Ina ZHARKEVICH is a Leverhulme Research
fellow at the Institute of Social and Cultural
Anthropology at Oxford University.
ScholarForum 21
2012
Rezart HOXHAJ is an affiliate fellow at the
CERGE-EI organization in Prague. Rezart is
undertaking research related to migration issues
and foreign direct investment in developing
countries. hoxhajrezart@yahoo.it
Shokhrukh-Mirzo JALILOV is a postdoctoral
researcher at the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering of Aalto University
(former Helsinki University of Technology) in
Finland. Shokhrukh is working on a project
entitled “Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Cross-
Sectoral Analysis of Large Asian River Basins.”
Shokhrukh is a guest editor for the special issue
on the water-energy-food Nexus in the journal
Water. sjalilov@nmsu.edu
Narantuya JUGDER is a lecturer at the National
Academy of Governance in Mongolia. narantuy-
ajugder@gmail.com
Nino KERESELIDZE was appointed as a liaison
officer at the United Nations International
Maritime Organization in London. Prior to that,
since 2012, Nino worked as an acting head of
unit at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable
Development and a consultant at the Maritime
Transport Agency in Georgia. Nino earned her
PhD degree in international relations from the
University of St. Andrews, UK. n.kereselidze@
mta.gov.ge
Shyamu Thapa MAGAR is a lecturer at the
Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology
in Nepal. He received a PhD from Ritsumeikan
Asia Pacific University, Japan, in 2009, and is one
of the few members of his ethnic group to earn
a doctorate. His research interests are ethnicity
and ethnic identity, gender, feminism and reli-
gion, and natural resources. shyamut@gmail.com
Tijana MATIJEVIC is writing a PhD thesis about
women writers from the post-Yugoslav region
and teaching Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian at the
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.
tijana.matijevic@gmail.com
Ahmed MORSY is a consultant for the Middle
East and North Africa Project at the American
Political Science Association. He is currently
finishing his PhD at the School of International
Relations, the University of St Andrews. Ahmed
was previously a non-resident research associate
in the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace’s Democracy and Rule of Law program.
asam@st-andrews.ac.uk
Prem PHYAK is a PhD candidate at the University
of Hawai'i at Manoa, United States. His research
focuses on language ideologies, and policies and
practices in education with an emphasis on
indigenous/minority languages in Nepal. Prem
is closely looking at how the “language gap” cre-
ates inequalities in access to socioeconomic and
educational resources and how the gap can be
minimized through multilingual education poli-
cies at the local level. pphyak@gmail.com
Ilija STOJANOVIC works outside of his preferred
field of study, which would be development stud-
ies, on a wide range of public policies and their
relation to development on the local, regional,
and national level. ilijastojanovic83@gmail.com
Aida TALIC is a linguist who is finishing her
PhD program at the University of Connecticut.
Her research focuses on investigating how the
mind works when we use our native language.
She has worked on phenomena in different
varieties of Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, as well
as in a number of other languages from the
Germanic, Romance, and Slavic language fami-
lies. talicaida@gmail.com
2013
Shirin KAZIMOV is considering research on
stigma in people with serious mental illness in
Azerbaijan. skazimov@yahoo.com
Anton SHEKHOVTSOV is an associate researcher
at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation
(Ukraine).
Ramesh SUNAM completed his PhD from the
Australian National University and is working
as a research assistant and tutor. He is also
undertaking research into poverty and interna-
tional labor migration. He has published several
articles in leading journals such as the Journal of
Ethnic and Migration Studies and the Journal of
Peasant Studies. rameshsunam@gmail.com
Tungalag ULAMBAYAR is a recent PhD graduate
from Colorado State University. Her disserta-
tion assessed social outcomes of community-
based rangeland management in post-social-
ist Mongolia. She is working with the Asia
Foundation in Ulaanbaatar to assist in the for-
mulation of a “Green Growth Strategic Action
Plan” for the capital city. tunga.ulambayar15@
alumni.colostate.edu
Dmytro VOLODIN is a researcher in deliberative
democracy in post-communist countries. His
research analyzes the correlation between trust
and participation in deliberative activities in
Poland and Ukraine. volodindmytro@yahoo.com
2014
Alissa KLOTS is currently completing her PhD
in history at Rutgers University. Her dissertation
centers on domestic service in the Soviet Union
and the structures of class and gender inequali-
ties under socialism. alissaklots@yandex.ru
OSF-Chevening
Awards
2004
Bahija ALIYEVA works for UNFPA–Azerbaijan
as a program analyst. Her most recent research
was on the skewed sex ratios at birth in the
Azerbaijani population (the case of sex selection
abortions), for which she received an award
from the International Federation of University
Women in 2012. behije_alvan@yahoo.co.uk
2005
Kanstantsin DZEHTSIAROU is a senior lecturer
in law at the University of Liverpool. He is
working on his second book on interpretation
of the European Convention on Human Rights.
K.dzehtsiarou@yahoo.co.uk
2007
Dragana BOJOVIC is a climate change scientist
at the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate
Change in Italy. Her research is focused on
the Alpine area, the Mediterranean, and the
Balkans. She has been studying the process of
adoption of innovations for improving environ-
mental management, through the social network
perspective. This recent research focused on
developing regions, including Central America,
East Africa, and the Hindu Kush Himalaya
region. dragunlija@gmail.com
Social Work
Fellowship
Program
2000
Fariz ISMAILZADE spent five years at the
International Republican Institute, helping
with trainings for youth and political parties
in the areas of elections, social activism, and
empowerment. Since 2006, he has worked at
the Diplomatic Academy helping to establish
this new institution of higher education in
Azerbaijan. He holds the position of vice rec-
tor and is also engaged in teaching short-term
courses to diplomats and BA students, as well as
researching and publishing on regional political
developments. fismailzade@gmail.com
Leyla ISMAYILOVA is a faculty member at the
University of Chicago
2004
Zarina ALIYEVA is a counseling psychologist at
Baku Higher Oil School in Azerbaijan, provid-
ing direct counseling services to the students,
consultations to the teaching staff, and con-
ducting surveys among students on the level
of satisfaction from the educational experi-
ence. mzarinaz@gmail.com
2006
Rahat OROZOVA is conducting research on
inclusive education policy in Kyrgyzstan and
developing case management guidelines for
Kyrgyz social workers. orozova@mail.ru
2007
Turana ALIYEVA is a lecturer at Baku State
University and adjunct professor at Azerbaijan
Diplomatic Academy. She is currently working
on cross-cultural research in the developmental
assessment of children from birth to five years.
She is interested in the development of an inter-
national network on child development and early
developmental assessment, and is managing a
project funded by the British Council on build-
ing the academic collaboration between univer-
sities in the United Kingdom and Azerbaijan.
kebirli_turan@yahoo.co.uk
Undergraduate
Exchange Program
2002
Aisalkyn BOTOEVA is a PhD candidate in sociol-
ogy at Brown University. Her dissertation focuses
on the intersection of piety, economic orien-
tation, and business practices through Islamic
businesses in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. aisalkyn.
botoeva@gmail.com
2004
Erdenechimeg ULZIISUREN is a national program
officer for population and development at the
United Nations Population Fund. Her research
interest focuses on the interlinkage between popu-
lation dynamics (birth, death, migration) and
development issues. forchimgee@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEXT
ScholarForum
The 19th edition of ScholarForum, pro-
duced in early 2017, will be accepting
submissions from Scholarship Programs’
grantees and alumni for articles, opinion
pieces, and short essays.
A call for papers on specific
topics will be sent out
in late summer 2016.
Please send any responses or expres-
sions of interest for topics you may wish to
write on to scholarforum@opensocietyfoun-
dations.org.
In addition, we very much welcome any
articles within these broad categories:
Personal Essays and Fictional Pieces
We welcome any thoughts you have on
your experiences during your scholarship:
your reflections, opinions, and photographs
All submissions, queries, and feedback can be sent to:
scholarforum@opensocietyfoundations.org
academic showcase
To build on the wealth of knowledge and
critical inquiry Open Society Scholarship Programs’
grantees create during their scholarship and beyond,
we invite all scholars to submit summaries or
abstracts of their research to be published in the
ScholarForum’s Academic Showcase section.
Submissions should be short and relate to an
area of research undertaken as part of an MA or
PhD degree, or to independent research conducted
in the field. Due to space constraints, Scholarship
Programs will only print a selected number of piec-
es, but will try to send comments from the editorial
board to each author.
Guidelines for Academic
Showcase submissions
Abstracts:
Abstracts are concise texts encapsulating the
whole body of research to be addressed in a longer
paper or presentation to follow. Outline the topic of
research, the main objective of the research or the
research problem, the methodology employed, the
main findings, and your conclusions.
Maximum length: 350 words
are welcome. Works of original fiction that
can be serialized can also be submitted for
editorial consideration.
Maximum length: 300–750 words
Alumni
Updates from Scholarship Programs’
alumni are key to evaluating our work and
provide inspiring material for future leaders
in your countries and beyond. Please feel
free to send us a brief note on your current
professional activities, research interests, or
any calls for collaboration at an upcoming
event or conference.
Letters to the Editor
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tent of ScholarForum are welcome and will be
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Maximum length: 300 words
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Authors need to be cognizant of the educated
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fore specialized terms and concepts should be con-
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expressed by other authors should be referred to in
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thesis/rationale to be developed in the article, as well
as a short summary of the findings and recommen-
dations. Outline what the work is part of (i.e., PhD,
MA, independent research).
Analysis and Discussion: Clearly and concisely
explain any of the theories, concepts, and terminol-
ogy, citing concrete examples. Keep in mind that the
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ScholarForum 23
 GRANTS FROM THE OPEN SOCIETY
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS
CIVIL SOCIETY
LEADERSHIP
AWARD
The Civil Society Leadership
Awards provide fully funded
master’s degree study to
individuals who clearly
demonstrate academic and
professional excellence and a
deep commitment to leading
positive social change in their
communities. CSLA directly
assists future leaders in
countries where civil society
is challenged by a deficit of
democratic practice in local
governance and social devel-
opment.
ScholarForum
Open Society Scholarship Programs
224 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019 USA
CIVIL SOCIETY
SCHOLAR
AWARDS
The Civil Society Scholar
Awards support interna-
tional academic mobility to
enable doctoral students
and university faculty to
access resources that enrich
socially engaged research
and critical scholarship in
their home country or region.
The awards support activi-
ties such as fieldwork (data
collection); research visits to
libraries, archives, or universi-
ties; course/curriculum devel-
opment; and international
collaborations leading to a
peer-reviewed publication.
www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/programs/scholarship-programs/
DISABILITY RIGHTS
SCHOLARSHIP
PROGRAM
The Disability Rights
Scholarship Program provides
yearlong LLM awards to dis-
ability rights advocates and
lawyers to develop new leg-
islation, jurisprudence, impact
litigation, and scholarship.
For more details please visit
PALESTINIAN
RULE OF LAW
AWARDS
The Palestinian Rule of Law
Awards provide scholarships
for one-year academic mas-
ters of law (LLM) programs
for qualified applicants from
the West Bank and Gaza for
study at selected law schools
in the United States and
Central European University
(CEU) in Budapest.